Second Chances
by Fumei-824
Summary: They say that if you don't remember the past, history will repeat itself. But is that always such a bad thing? GaaraxOC
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Ok I own nothing except my OC**. **Since I own nothing else I'm not going to do a disclaimer every chapter.**

**In this fic Gaara is either five(before you see him in the manga and anime) or sixteen(after his fight with Naruto so if he seems ooc tht's why. I got htis idea that Gaara needed friend one day and yeah this fic was born. It's mainly a friendship thing but may turn into romance later.  
**

_Just so you know__ if the words look like this then it's a flash back._

**Chapter one**

_Dusk. Nothing was stirring no wind blew every thing was eerily still. Looking around an observer would be hard pressed to find some thing that stood_ _out against the uniformly grey-brown houses. Only a resident of the seemingly deserted town would see the old swing set with a young boy on it. The contraption itself looked to be very old, the metal was rusted and any time the swing moved a low groaning creak resounded. The seat was just a plain flat piece of wood, which might have looked nice in it's day_ _but was now gnarled and swollen due to the fact that it had witnessed a few rainstorms in its old age._

_But the boy. Any passerby would notice the young boy with the flaming red hair who sat on the swing set. Whether they wanted to or not-and most did not. Dressed plainly in a dusty brown tunic and baggy brown pants he looked almost normal for a five year-old. Only if you saw his face-which he kept cast down for the most part-would you have realized the true nature of the child, and then only if you were a learned shinobi or kunoichi. If he deigned to look up at you the first thing that you would notice were the dark circles around his eyes, the second was the eyes themselves. A light shade of crystal green-blue they seemed torn with pain and loneliness. His face seemed to be in a perpetual frown as if he would cry any minute. _

_Any other child in need of love or a home would have been gladly picked up and taken care of but not this one. The people in this town were kind hearted but they were still human none the less and needing something to hate and fear they turned on this homeless boy. The youngster wasn't homeless in the sense of not have a house and a place to sleep but he lived in solitude his own father rarely speaking to him. Being that he was the Kazekage's son the boy should have been praised and loved. But because he had been imbedded with the spirit of the Shukaku and raised to be the villages secret weapon this poor child had to bear the fear and hate that comes with ignorance. Just because he was only a container, a shell to hold great power did not mean he did not feel emotion, quite the contrary. In fact not only did he feel emotion he was extremely sensitive to all that was around him._

_His mother was dead before he even knew her, his father only loved him as long as he was useful, and his uncle loved him but was never around. Did the villagers ever stop to consider this? No, but they went right along hating him and shooting him glances like he couldn't see them. _

_Did the boy have a name? Not to most villagers he didn't. To most he had more than one name none of them his true one though. To all of them he was known only by nick names and cruel ones at that. Monster, demon, devil, sand beast the little boy had heard them all. We however shall hereby refer to him as Gaara. Gaara of the Sand._

_Sitting on his usual perch, that being a swing set made primarily of metal and wood young Gaara was contemplating his position in Sunagakure. For most five year old children to contemplate means nothing, at most one thought about a toy or treat they want. For Gaara it was different, being the military tool that he was his father had home schooled him. Just as much because he didn't want Gaara socializing as that the school wouldn't take a "monster". Thinking had always been one of Gaara's strong points, speaking had not. When you pass your days alone speech is not a necessity._

_Noticing a person in the distance Gaara's first instinct was to run away and hide from this potential name caller. But being young his second instinct kicked in-hope. Hoping against hope had never worked before but as he was five common sense wasn't one of Gaara's strong points. As the blob in the distance got closer Gaara saw that it was a girl. Knowing that he was practically invisible Gaara closed his eyes as she passed so as to spare himself the look of hate that would surely mar her face as young as she was(the girl appeared to be Gaara's age)when she passed him. 10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1...Garra mentally counted down from ten before he opened his eyes-to see a large brown eyes staring back at him._

_Frightened he let go of the chains of the swing and a wall of sand shot up blocking his view of the girl and knocking her down. Slowly the curtain of sand fell to the ground and Gaara expecting the girl to call him demon and run away was surprised by her reaction. Standing up and brushing off her dirty yellow dress she looked at him with question in her large brown eyes._

"_Why'd you do that huh? Did I scare you? And hey how'd you do that? Are you a ninja..?"she trailed off grabbing each of her sandy brown pig tail braids awe in her voice. Then taking a step toward him looking at him more closely she continued "Are you lonely huh are you? Is that why you look so sad? You shouldn' t be sad you know."she finished wisely._

"_Don't have any friends." Gaara mumbled shyly as he'd never really interacted with humans before._

"_Everybody has friends. I've got Mihoko and Satoki but no one else can see** them**, and you"_

_So she considered him a friend. Strange he had met this girl maybe one minute ago and she considered him a friend. Was this how all five year olds made friends and this quickly too?_

"_My name's Kii That's not my real name but I don't have a mommy or a daddy so the orphanage lady named me Kii 'cause she says I'm odd! Hey what's your name?"Kii said with a smile obviously being an orphan didn't bother her as much as it did Gaara._

"_If I tell you then you won't like me any more..."_

"_Sure I would but fine I'll call you Nanashi..."she huffed and after a few seconds of silence Kii prompted "Now tell me your "name" and somethin' about you."_

_Standing up and holding out his hand like he had seen his father do when he greeted people Gaara said "My name is Nanashi and I don't have a mommy but I do have a Father."_

**Eleven Years Later**

Sixteen year old Gaara scanned the baron wasteland that was his home from atop one of the many sand dunes, all memories of his five year old past forgotten(when one suffers a dramatic experience such as Gaara's attempted murders the pain tends to leak out in some way or another, such as Gaara's memory loss). At only twelve years old he had been offered the position of Kazekage. He had declined then(A/N: yes I changed that because c'mon who's gonna do what a TWELVE year old says?) knowing that though he was powerfulnot many people would want to follow him, and how would it look for the Sand Village to be led by some one so young any how. All the rival villages would laugh in their facesand stop after he kick their asses but stillSo instead he put some moderately powerful man up for the job and planned to take it over when he turned eighteen.

Not much had changed since he was twelve, Gaara still wore just about the same clothes(in different sizes of course)but he wasn't a mind less mass murderer anymore. Not since that fight with Naruto. Of course he still had his weak moments and had to go kill someone but he usually just took an assassination mission,of which the Kazekage had plenty of for him. Right now he was on his way back from one such mission but he was still hungry for blood.

Being swallowed up by his sand Garra reappeared on another sand dune this time with a perfect view of an oasis. Gorgeous red and yellow flowers grew in numbers all around a blue shining pool of water. A young woman stood near the flowers holding nothing but very small bag, no doubt carrying all of her money. Gaara mentally sighed some of Naruto's chivalry must have worn off on him for he knew that he couldn't kill the girl.

Dressed in a blush pink kimono that ended just before her knees it was obvious that she wasn't from the desert, or at least not originally. Her light brown hair fell to her mid back and her pale skin was starting to burn. Gaara noted that the stupid girl was walking barefoot with no visible sign of having brought any shoes at all.

The presence of three people's chakra brought Gaara back from his thoughts. Over another sand hill three men-common robbers with a little knowledge of the ninja arts by the look of it-had their eyes on the woman or more correctly her purse. Arming themselves with a few knives they threw them at the girl. Not until the weapons came hurtling at her did she notice them-the young woman obviously wasn't a ninja. She shut her eyes waiting for the impact which never came. Straightening up and opening her eyes the girl caught a glimpse of her savior and a little bit of bloody sand.

"Thank you! Whew I probably would have been dead by now if it weren't for you huh?"she said with no lack of enthusiasm.

"You are stupid, traveling through dangerous territory with out a shinobi to guide you."Gaara answered in his usual brief laconic monotone.

Looking hurt for a second but then brightening up she pointed out "Yeah, but look you're here now so I do have a shinobi guide right?"

"No. Leave now."

Sighing and hanging her head she turned and began to walk away. As slowly as she possibly could .

Gaara closed his eyes and began to count from ten, if she wasn't out of his sight by then then he_ would _kill her. 10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1 he opened his eyes to see her standing right in front of him. She held out one of the flowers that were by the pool offering it to him.

"You look lonely. Why are you lonely huh? Is it because you're a ninja, is it? Are all ninja lonely? 'Cause you know you shouldn't be lonely."She sounded so familiar but Gaara couldn't place a time or name to her so he gave up and started to walk away. He wouldn't kill her because she hadn't left and instead stood right next to him, Gaara couldn't think of another individual who would be brave enough or stupid enough to do that. Rewarding her with her life seemed fair enough.

The girl though apparently being more stupid than brave ran up to him and began to talk "Where are you going?"

"Home."

"Where's that?"

"Sunagakure."

"Oh that's where I'm going! We can be travel buddies!"

"No."

"Oh come on! You seem to need company and if it makes you feel better I won't talk the rest of the way."she was begging now.

She wasn't giving up so Gaara decided that if she didn't talk then he could ignore her "Fine."

The young woman who appeared at this closer distance to be fifteen or sixteen squealed and latched on to Gaara's arm. He immediately stiffened and stopped walkingMuttering a sorry the girl let go and fell a step or two behind him. Bothered beyond measure both by the girl and by the fact that his sand hadn't come up to separate them Gaara walked for the next few minute in musing silence.

That had been his first human contact, before no one was allowed to touch him. He himself could not even inflict damage upon himself. So why had she been able to, grab his arm that is? He knew this would bother him for a long time to come so he pushed it into the back of his mind for later consultation. Maybe he was losing his "gift" as he grew older. One thing was for sure, he wasn't going to figure this out now.

True to her word the girlhad stayed silent but if she was going to enter the village the Kazekage was going to want some background information. As much as he didn't want to Gaara knew it was his duty as a shinobi of the sand village to question her.

"Where are you from?"

"Oh you know, just a small little village in the middle of the desert."

"What is your business here?"

"I used to live here. I got adopted though so now I live with my new family! I have a mom, dad, a brother, two sisters, and a pup...py..."She trailed away under Gaara's glare "Anyway I'm coming here to meet someone!"

That poor person, he hated to imagine what spending even a few days with her would be like "What is your name?"

"My name is Kii, what's yours?"

**Ok shortish chapter but I seem unable to write any more than this. Please tell me what you thought of this chapter. Gaara has so few fics written about him and I think it's time He got some of the spot light by Jove! Oops ranting there please review! i am eagarly awiating some as long as I have one revweiwer I will continue this story.**

**-Fumei**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you to ICHEWBUBBLEGUM!!! You're my only reviewer so far, but hopefully more people will review as the story progresses hint hint! Now I shan't keep you all waiting. ONWARD!**

**Chapter 2**

**Eleven Years in the Past**

_A young Gaara sat on a swing set, waiting. He wasn't swinging it was more like rocking back and forth. An almost spastic motion when suddenly he stopped and sat up straight.__Watery green blue eyes met large brown ones._

_Kii jumped onto the swing next to Gaara and smiled her trade mark smile. It seemed almost too large for her face, the result being that her nose wrinkled_ _and her eyes shut._ _Pumping back and forth with her legs Kii rose higher and high_er _in the air. Winking at Gaara,_ _Kii waited until she was at the highest point and let go of the chains. The result? She flew through the air laughing and pretending to fly. Rolling his eyes Gaara, his mouth curving in to a small smile, used some sand to form a cushion which he sent up to Kii. This jumping and catching had become somewhat of a routine at the swing sets, which Kii had designated to be their meeting place. "Because you never leave them and I'd get lost if I tried to go somewhere else" she had put it one day._

"_Whee!" she exclaimed as Gaara let her down onto the sand. Jumping off the cloud of sand Kii ran back to the swings to start all over again. Kii had just jumped off and was giggling in the mass of sand that had come up to met her when Gaara heard a woman's voice,_

"_Stop! Kii don't worry you'll be safe soon! Stop you monster let the poor girl go" The woman Gaara realized from her dress worked at the orphanage where Kii lived. Obligingly so as not to start a fight he placed Kii down on the ground and with drew his sand. Immediately the woman scooped the little girl up and yelled at Gaara _

"_You devil! Leave the poor child alone she never did any thing to you!" all the while Kii was protesting,_

"_No! No! Nanashi's my friend! We play on the swings together!" But she was hushed and the lady turned and walked away. This wasn't so bad Gaara thought he would just see Kii tomorrow, when a snippet of the woman's voice drifted over to him,_

"_...You're never to see that boy again...you hear me..." Never see Kii again? Lose his only friend, the only one his age who talked and looked at him as if he was a normal human being(granted that he wasn't...). Gaara didn't have to think twice, he sent his sand after the woman and dragged her back. _

"_No! Don't hurt me! Here take the girl, just don't hurt me!" Disgusted Gaara let the terrified woman run. He sent a tendril of sand after her though as if deciding that she wasn't worthy enough to live._

"_Hey Nanashi stop! Don't hurt her! That would be mean, and your not mean." Kii startled him and the advancing sand fell lifeless to the ground, so Kii continued "Why'd you do that huh? Why'd you attack her?"_

"_She was gonna take you away..." he mumbled to her feet._

"_Do you think I would have let her do that?" Kii demanded angrily, then kneeled down to look into his downcast eyes, "You're my friend and some lady can't just make me stop you know. No one can make me do anything!"_

_Looking up Gaara gave her a smile, not his usual small shy one but a huge one that rivaled even Kii's own. His sad, dejected face radiated sun shine at the moment, and on the inside he was feeling pretty sunny too..._

**Present Day**

"He-ey! Na-na-shi!" Kii yelled across the street, her hands cupped over her mouth. Gaara was walking home, a small apartment building that he rented from the Kazekage when she had spotted him. When he had refused to give her his name she had huffed and had been calling him Nanashi for the past week.

Settling for a bone chilling glare he continued walking. But it seemed to him that this girl could malt an iceberg with a smile alone so naturally she just half jogged half skipped over to him receiving some surprised glances on her way. After all she was a new face in town, kept running into people(Gaara had notice that she was highly uncoordinated), and finally she walking next to him smiling and humming a tune, such a familiar tune and yet Gaara couldn't place it.

"When do you leave." He wasn't asking a question, he was demanding an answer. And of course Kii was only too happy to oblige,

"As soon as I find the person I'm looking for. Will you help me?" she answered looking hopeful.

"No."

"Oh man. I really thought you where going to say yes this time..."

"As opposed to what? The other five times you've asked me." This wasn't an understatement, she really had asked him once everyday.

Expecting her to leave almost(but not quite) dejected he was surprised to say the least when Kii began to dance around jumping and clapping her hands.

"What?" He asked coldly.

"You...said ...more than... three words... at...a time...just now!"She gasped out breathless from her little "celebration".

That was too much for Gaara. He had heard people say he didn't talk enough but to have some one actually get exited when he did... well that was just a little scary.

"Are you gonna keep talking to me now? 'Cause if you are I'll buy you a dictionary or some thing... you can learn some more words... I always though that the reason you never spoke was because you were too proud to admit you had a tiny vocabulary.." She chattered on and on.

"Just shut up. Your giving me a headache." Gaara walked away leaving her when she asked directions-from a passer by- to a book store.

"Hey-" Kii caught up to him but was innterupted when an old woman grabbed her arm,

"Young lady stay away from that man. He's bad new's that one. He-" Kii was struggling to free her self from the woman's vice-like grip, unwittingly she let out a gasp of pain as nails dug into her flesh. That was enough for Gaara, he pried the woman's hand off of Kii's arm and dragged her away.

"Why'd you do that?" she asked him massaging her arm.

"She was hurting you." he said simply.

"Well thanks but I can take care of myself. No one can make _me_ do anything!" she boasted proudly.

Gaara was about to retort about her needing help when he'd saved her in the desert but he couldn't help feeling as if he'd forgotten some thing and was right on the brink of remembering it. When turned his attention back to Kii she had diappeared.

**Alrighty, I am so so sorry for not updating sooner but I have other fic's to update and I've got writers block. So any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!**

**-Fumei**


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm _beyond_ sorry that I haven't updated in forever!** **I was wrapped up in my other fics but I finished one so I'm gonna continue with this one again.** **And once again sorry!** **Oh! To clear this up, I think I've mentioned it before but no, Kii is NOT a ninja.**

_Italics Past_

Normal Present

**Chapter Three**

_Young Gaara pushed open the large oak door that led to his room. Expecting darkness and shadowy outlines of forgotten and abused play toys the child was surprised to see a light and a melodious laugh tinkled to his ears._

_Silently he crept into the room and stood, pressed against the wall_. _Not more than three feet from him Kii sat in a large pile of stuffed animals, laughing and occasionally throwing one at another pile of toys. _

_From the second pile a seven year old Temari burst up, a patched teddy bear in each hand. Gaara watched this all in silence and most likely would have left just as unnoticed as he had entered if Kii had not found it._

_While looking for a new fort the girl had climbed onto Gaara's bed, demolishing the neatly folded covers in her mad dash to safety. A brown satin teddy bear that had seen better days sat on the self above the bed. It was obviously well loved for though it was rather ratty looking it sat in a place of honor._

_Entranced Kii dropped the little stuffed dog she had been holding and reached for the bear. As soon as Temari saw Kii's outstretched hand she cried,_

"_No don't that's-"_

"_That's mine."_ _Gaara's sand-made hand wrenched the bear from Kii's grip and she stared, seeing him for the first time. _

_Smiling she greeted him, "Hiya Nanashi! Can I see your teddy bear, it looks so soft."_

_Shaking his head Gaara drew the bear closer to him_. _Frowning and furrowing her brow Kii crossed her arms._

"_You hafta share you know. Nobody likes a..." she paused and for lack of a bigger vocabulary she finished, "a non-sharing person."_

"_No." Gaara hugged the bear still tighter. He had never shared anything with anyone before and to him frankly, he didn't see why he should let another person touch anything of his._

"_But...I really wanted to...he looked so soft..." Kii whispered her lip quivering._

_Crying, again was something Gaara wasn't used to. He had cried once when he was four but had then decided that it was useless to let tears fall out of your eyes just because you didn't get your way._

_But Kii had no qualms about crying and soon her face was wet with salty tears and her nose was running as well. And the noise, Gaara had never heard a person wail so loudly in his life. _

_Looking down at the bear, his bear, and back up at his bawling friend, Gaara took a step forward. And then another step and another until he standing in front of Kii. Shyly he held out his teddy bear and whispered,_

"_Be careful okay? He's my favorite." _

_Smiling through her tears Kii gently latched her hand onto the bear's arm and ever so lightly she hugged him. Gaara smiled as well and Temari stood in the same place she had been thinking to her self,_

"_Who in the heck is Nanashi?"_

* * *

**The other half of this chapter will be out soon. I promise. Please tell me what you thought of Gaara's first lesson in sharing! And next time you'll learn how he deals with Sharing as a sixteen year old. I'll give you a hint it won't be as easy.**

**-Fumei**


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